Air supply mechanism for a vehicle seat, and method for the operation thereof
The present invention discloses an air supply mechanism for a vehicle seat (12), and a method for the operation thereof. The air supply mechanism comprises a control device (24), for driving a fan (38) and a heating element (39) connected downstream of the fan (38). When the air supply mechanism is switched on, the control device (24) switches on a heating element (39) and at the same time carries out a starting control of a fan (38) in such a manner that the fan (38) starts and is operated at minimum blower speed for a predetermined period of time before the blower speed is raised to a predetermined working point and subsequently the blower speed is regulated as a function of the driving speed. In this manner, a seat occupant does not experience an initial sensation of draft due to a powerful discharge of relatively cold air but rather experiences a pleasant warmth even directly after the mechanism is switched on.
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This invention relates to an air supply mechanism for a vehicle seat, and to a method for the operation thereof.
German document DE 102 26 008 A1 discloses an air supply mechanism for a vehicle seat of an open vehicle with at least one air discharging opening which is provided in the upper region of the vehicle seat and via which the head, shoulder and neck region of the seat occupant can be subjected to an air flow in order to reduce undesirable draft phenomena. In this case, the air flow can be regulated by means of a control device and, when the air supply mechanism is switched on, is set as a function of an automatically detected external parameter value, for example, an external temperature, or a specified value which can be selected by the seat occupant, to an assigned basic value. From this assigned basic value, a further setting of the air flow takes place as a function of an automatically detected further parameter value, for example, the driving speed. The two parameter values serve to set a low, average or a high basic value of the air flow, which basic value is determined by an assigned blower speed of the fan and an assigned heating power of the heating element. On the basis of this basic value, the setting of the air flow then takes place as a function of the driving speed in such a manner that, as the driving speed increases, the air flow and therefore the blower speed and the heating power of the heating element are increased, and vice versa.
However, in the above-described conventional vehicle seat with seat heating system and ventilation device (air supply mechanism), there is the problem that, when the air supply mechanism is switched on, the seat heating system and the ventilation device are activated and, as a result, directly after the mechanism is switched on, relatively cool air arrives at the shoulder and neck region of the seat occupant, since the heating element is not yet at the full heating power. This results in the seat occupant experiencing a draft and therefore leads to a loss of comfort.
German document DE 198 42 979 C1 discloses a vehicle seat with seat heating system and ventilation device, in which, each time the seat heating system is switched on, the control unit simultaneously activates the ventilation device for a defined period of time after the seat heating system is switched on. In this case, the seat heating system and the ventilation device are switched on at full power, and the power of the ventilation device is reduced asymptotically to a predetermined final value within the period of time. This final value can either be zero or a value predetermined manually depending on the sensation of heat. This results in a specific combination of seat heating and seat ventilation in the heating-up phase of the vehicle seat, causing the rate at which the cushion heats up in comparison to just the heating of the seat to be doubled. The seat heating system comprises a plurality of electric heating wires which are laid in an upholstery padding of the cushion. The ventilation device has a plurality of miniature fans. The fans are arranged in air ducts integrated in the cushion and suck up air from the vehicle interior region located below the vehicle seat and blow it into a ventilation layer of the cushion located below the upholstery padding.
German document DE 197 03 516 C1 discloses a vehicle seat with a seat heating system and ventilation device, in which the control unit is connected on the input side to a temperature sensor arranged in the cushion and on the output side to the seat heating system and the ventilation device. The ventilation device has a plurality of miniature fans which are integrated in a cushion pad, suck up air from the vehicle interior region located below the vehicle seat and blow it into a ventilation layer which covers the cushion pad and is composed of a spacer knit. The seat heating system comprises a plurality of heating coils which are in each case assigned to a miniature fan and are arranged together with the latter in a respective air duct formed in the cushion pad. The control unit drives the ventilation device and the seat heating system in various combinations of fan and heating stages as a function of a current cushion temperature and a predetermined desired cushion temperature.
The vehicle seat which is disclosed in German document DE 199 53 385 A1 has a seat heating system and ventilation device. An operating device is provided for the manual actuation of the seat heating system and of the ventilation device. If the ventilation device is switched on manually, the control unit regulates the seat heating system automatically as a function of the temperature of the seat surface. The ventilation device and the seat heating system can be switched in a stepwise manner and/or continuously by means of the operating device. Regulation takes place within the defined limits set by the user via the operating device. In addition, it is ensured that supercooling does not take place by means of the ventilation device by, when the ventilation device is switched on, the heating device for heating the vehicle seat being regulated automatically as a function of the seat surface temperature.
Also in such a conventional vehicle seat with a seat heating system and a ventilation device, when the seat heating system and the ventilation device are switched on, the heating element is not yet at the full heating power. The seat occupant, therefore, experiences a draft, in particular in the situation in which the ventilation device is initially operated at the maximum level and is then slowly switched down to a predetermined value.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to develop an air supply mechanism for a vehicle seat and a method for the operation thereof so that, even directly after the air supply mechanism is switched on, the seat occupant does not experience any draft.
According to the invention, this object is achieved both by an air supply mechanism for a vehicle seat as claimed and by a method for the operation of an air supply mechanism for a vehicle seat as claimed. Advantageous developments of the invention are also claimed.
By starting control according to the invention of the fan directly after the air supply mechanism for a vehicle seat is switched on, the seat occupant does not experience an initial sensation of draft due to a powerful discharge of relative cold air, but rather feels a pleasant warmth even directly after the mechanism is switched on.
This and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention become obvious from the description below of a preferred exemplary embodiment in conjunction with the drawings.
The air supply mechanism for a vehicle seat and the method according to the invention for the operation of the same will now be described in more detail below with reference to a preferred embodiment.
The air supply mechanism 14 is connected both to a sensor 20 for detecting the external temperature and to a sensor 22 for detecting the driving speed. The two sensors 20, 22 are connected to the control device 24 which is arranged, for example, within the vehicle seat 12 and via which the air flow emerging from the air discharging opening 18 is regulated in the manner described below. In addition, a regulating device 26 is provided in the interior of the motor vehicle and is connected to the control device 24 and via which the seat occupant can undertake a setting of the air flow as described below. In the exemplary embodiment shown here, the driving speed is detected by an ABS control unit which is present in any case, converts the driving speed at a particular moment into an electronic signal and transmits it to the control device 24. The external temperature can be detected by a temperature sensor 20 which is present in any case for indicating the temperature in the cockpit, the temperature being converted into an electronic signal and being transmitted to the control device 24 in the vehicle seat 12.
As soon as the control device 24 receives a switching-on signal for the air supply mechanism, for example, manually on the basis of an actuation of a switch by the occupant, the heating element 39 is switched on and at the same time the fan 38 is driven in accordance with the fan characteristic shown in
Since the control device 24 drives the fan, as illustrated in
The sequence of the method according to the invention for the operation of an air supply mechanism for a vehicle seat will now be discussed below with reference to
In a first step S1, it is first of all checked whether there is a switching-on signal for an air supply mechanism for a vehicle seat. If this is not the case, a return is made to the beginning. If, however, it is recognized in step S1 that there is a switching-on signal for the air supply mechanism for a vehicle seat, a step S2 is advanced to, in which the heating element 39 and a starting control of the fan 38 are activated.
The starting control of the fan 38 is illustrated in more detail in
This predetermined working point G0 can be selected and updated in steps (not shown). For this purpose, an external parameter value, such as, for example, the external temperature, can be detected and, in accordance with this detected external temperature, a working point G0 can be selected from previously stored working points. In addition, the working point G0 can be updated by a check being made at regular intervals during the driving mode to see whether there is a change in parameter, i.e., for example, a change in the external temperature, and, if this is the case, the working point is adapted.
Starting from this predetermined working point G0, then, in the following steps S3 to S5, shown in
Claims
1. An air supply mechanism for a vehicle seat, with an air discharging opening which is provided in an upper region of the vehicle seat and via which a head, shoulder, and neck region of a vehicle occupant can be subjected to an air flow in order to reduce undesirable draft phenomena, comprising:
- a fan,
- a heating element, and
- a control device, which regulates an airflow of the fan by regulating a blower speed of the fan,
- wherein the airflow is heatable via the heating element, and
- wherein the control device is designed so that, in response to a switching-on signal for the air supply mechanism, the heating element is switched on and the fan is started by way of a short high voltage pulse, the fan is operated at minimum blower speed by way of an operating voltage below said short high voltage pulse for a predetermined period of time after the fan has started, and the fan is operated as a function of driving speed after said predetermined period of time has passed.
2. The air supply mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fan is operated at the lowest blower speed for said predetermined period of time, and wherein an operating voltage is then brought up to a predetermined working point after said predetermined period of time has passed.
3. The air supply mechanism as claimed in claim 2, wherein the short, high voltage pulse is designed in such a manner that it is precisely sufficient to allow the fan to start.
4. The air supply mechanism as claimed in claim 2, wherein the predetermined period of time is designed in such a manner that the heating element can be completely heated up within that predetermined period of time.
5. The air supply mechanism as claimed in claim 2, wherein the control device selects the predetermined period of time as a function of a determined external temperature, and wherein new determinations take place at regular intervals.
6. The air supply mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the predetermined period of time is designed in such a manner that the heating element can be completely heated up within that predetermined period of time.
7. A method for operating an air supply mechanism for a vehicle seat, with an air discharging opening provided in an upper region of the vehicle seat and via which a head, shoulder and neck region of a seat occupant can be subjected to an air flow in order to reduce undesirable draft phenomena, the air flow being regulatable with a control device by regulating a blower speed of a fan and heatable via a heating element, comprising:
- detecting whether there is a switching-on signal for the air supply mechanism, and if there is no switching-on signal, returning to a beginning of the method,
- switching on the heating element and starting the fan by way of a short high voltage pulse when the switching-on signal is present,
- operating the fan at minimum blower speed by way of an operating voltage below said short high voltage pulse for a predetermined period of time after the fan has started,
- detecting a driving speed of the vehicle,
- operating the fan, and therefore the blower speed, as a function of the driving speed after said predetermined period of time has passed, and
- checking whether a switching-off signal is present, and then returning to the beginning of the method when the switching-off signal is present, and again detecting the driving speed of the vehicle and operating the fan as a function of the driving speed when the switching-off signal is absent.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein, after expiry of the predetermined period of time, the fan is driven at an increasing operating voltage, so that the blower speed is brought up to a predetermined working speed.
9. The method as claimed in claim 8, further comprising automatically detecting an external parameter value in a first additional step, and setting the working point of the fan as a function of the external parameter in a second additional step.
10. The method as claimed in claim 7, further comprising automatically detecting an external parameter value in a first additional step, and setting the working point of the fan as a function of the external parameter in a second additional step.
11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the external parameter value is an external temperature.
12. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the first and second additional steps are carried out anew at regular intervals during a driving mode.
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Type: Grant
Filed: Jun 18, 2005
Date of Patent: Nov 24, 2009
Patent Publication Number: 20080136221
Assignee: Daimler AG (Stuttgart)
Inventors: Dietmar Hartmann (Deckenpfronn), Karl Pfahler (Stuttgart), Lothar Renner (Nufringen)
Primary Examiner: Anthony D Barfield
Attorney: Crowell & Moring LLP
Application Number: 11/630,244
International Classification: A47C 7/72 (20060101);